A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that operates over a relatively short distance relative to larger, national railroad networks. The term is used primarily in the United States and Canada. In the former, railroads are categorized by operating revenue, and most shortline railroads fall into the Class III or Class II categorization defined by the Surface Transportation Board .
30-636: The Moshassuck Valley Railroad (reporting mark MOV ), founded in 1874, was a shortline railroad in Rhode Island , United States. Built from 1876 to 1877, it operated on a 2-mile (3.2 km) long line between Lincoln and a connection to the Providence and Worcester and Boston and Providence railroads, both of which were subsequently purchased by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (the New Haven), in
60-477: A hump yard . The hump was removed around 1970, after Penn Central Transportation Company took over the New Haven in 1969. Under Penn Central, the yard was downsized and the hump removed. Conrail superseded Penn Central in 1976 and sold off the yard to the Providence and Worcester Railroad in 1982. In the early 1980s, Amtrak established facilities at the yard to support its maintenance of way operations along
90-416: A Class III is a railroad with an annual operating revenue of less than $ 28 million. In Canada , Transport Canada classifies shortline railroads as Class II . There are three kinds of shortlines in the U.S.: handling, switch, and ISS (Interline Settlement System). It was reported in 2009 that shortline railroads employ 20,000 people in the U.S., and own 30 percent of the nation's railroad tracks. About
120-516: A maximum speed limit of 10 miles per hour (16 km/h). The wye at Woodlawn is also used by Amtrak and P&W to turn railroad equipment. [REDACTED] Media related to Moshassuck Valley Railroad at Wikimedia Commons Shortline railroad At the beginning of the railroad age, nearly all railway lines were shortlines, locally chartered, financed and operated; as the railroad industry matured, local lines were merged or acquired to create longer mainline railroads. Especially since 1980 in
150-534: A mile (1.21 km) of the line were abandoned in 1991, with the remainder of the line in active use as of 2022. The Moshassuck Valley Railroad was chartered on June 11, 1874, by brothers William and Frederic Sayles, owners of a large mill in eponymous Saylesville , to connect their mill and the village to the national railroad network in Woodlawn, a neighborhood of Pawtucket . There, the Moshassuck Valley connected to
180-440: A quarter of all U.S. rail freight travels at least a small part of its journey over a short-line railroad. An ever-growing number of shortline operators have been acquired by larger holding companies which own or lease railroad properties in many states, as well as internationally. For example, Genesee & Wyoming controls over 100 railroads in over 40 U.S. states and four Canadian provinces. A consequence of such consolidation
210-465: A right-of-way for the extension within two years, and additionally required the extension to be an electrified railroad. In April 1906, the company formally filed notice that it had obtained a right-of-way and would begin construction. Construction of the extension did not proceed smoothly, as the New Haven Railroad objected to the route passing through land it owned at Woodlawn, asserting the land
240-485: Is that shortline railroads may no longer be "by state". Northup Avenue Yard Northup Avenue Yard (also known as Northrup Avenue Yard ) is a rail yard located in Providence and Pawtucket, Rhode Island , in the United States. The location has been the site of a rail yard since at least 1899. It was significantly expanded by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad between 1918 and 1921 and made into
270-683: The Moshassuck . This locomotive was later supplemented by a second, the Lorraine . In 1889, the company ordered a new, more powerful locomotive from the Rhode Island Locomotive Works to replace the Moshassuck , which was no longer sufficient to handle growing freight traffic. Though freight service was always the primary purpose of the Moshassuck Valley Railroad, the company also provided passenger service between Saylesville and
300-569: The New Haven Railroad 's Woodlawn depot (the New Haven was the lessor of both the Providence & Worcester and the Boston & Providence). A self-propelled steam dummy with passenger accommodations made up to 13 round trips per day on the line, which included three full stations and a further five flag stops . The Boston Globe wrote in 1903 that "There is no combination car and locomotive like
330-575: The Northeast Corridor . A layover facility for MBTA Commuter Rail was constructed at the yard in 2006. Northup Avenue Yard was originally built jointly by the Boston and Providence Railroad and Providence and Worcester Railroad . The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (The New Haven) maintained a yard at Northup Avenue from at least 1899. A widening program was launched in May 1904, which increased
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#1732877326056360-510: The 'winter' and 'summer' humps. The 'winter' hump was built several feet higher than the 'summer' hump; this extra height compensated for winter temperatures slowing the journal bearings of freight cars, as well as increased winds. If traffic warranted, both humps could be used simultaneously to increase classification speed and capacity. To build the yard, it was necessary for the existing main line between Providence and Boston to be relocated. The original alignment of these tracks passed through
390-463: The New Haven began the installation of retarders at Northup Avenue Yard, following a successful 1926 installation at Hartford Yard in Connecticut. The installation included 19 sets of retarders, plus two new control towers to operate them. As part of the project, 34 switches were also linked to the towers, enabling their remote operation by tower operators. Construction began on April 10, 1929, and
420-473: The New Haven would instead have expanded six existing yards in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. Upon opening, Northup Avenue Yard received up to 44 freight trains per day, with a peak of five trains per hour. The two humps saw on average 2,000 railroad cars per day pass over them for classification. Two switcher locomotives operated at the yard full-time to send cars over the humps. In 1929,
450-475: The New Haven, the P&;W broke free from New Haven successor Penn Central in 1973 and resumed train operations. The line became the P&W's Moshassuck Industrial Track, serving several local industries. P&W cut back the northernmost three-quarters of a mile (1.21 km) of the line in 1991, while the remaining portion continues to serve a local industry as of 2022. The line is maintained to Class 1 standards, meaning
480-528: The P&W became the operator of most rail service in Providence. The P&W was also given overhead rights to enter the yard to interchange with the Moshassuck Valley Railroad . Penn Central was merged into Conrail in 1976. The Providence and Worcester Railroad became the owner of the freight portion of Northup Avenue Yard, by that point Conrail's primary yard in the state of Rhode Island, on May 1, 1982. Amtrak indicated interest in building
510-459: The U.S. and 1990 in Canada, many shortlines have been established when larger railroad companies sold off or abandoned low-profit portions of their trackage. Shortline operators typically have lower labor, overhead and regulatory costs than Class I railroads and therefore are often able to operate profitable lines that lost money for their original owners. Shortlines generally exist for one or more of
540-426: The United States, to incorporate best practices. The general design of the yard was influenced by the long and narrow parcel of land the New Haven owned in Providence and Pawtucket, with 900 feet (270 m) of width available as opposed to 2 miles (3.2 km) of length. The new yard was designed as a hump yard for rapidly classifying railroad cars. Two humps were placed adjacent to one another; these were known as
570-557: The Woodlawn neighborhood of Pawtucket . The company was formed by the Sayles brothers, owners of a significant mill in Saylesville near the line's terminus. Freight was the primary traffic of the railroad, but frequent passenger service was also provided by a self-propelled steam passenger car until 1921. An expansion attempt southeastward from Woodlawn to the Seekonk River was launched in
600-493: The central portion of what was to be Northup Avenue Yard. As construction progress permitted, first the eastbound (towards Boston) tracks were realigned to the south, while the westbound (towards Providence) tracks received a new, temporary alignment that crossed through the north end of the yard, before ultimately being moved south with the eastbound tracks. Northup Avenue Yard's construction relieved significant congestion within existing rail yards in Providence. Were it not built,
630-540: The early 1900s, the Moshassuck Valley Railroad launched an attempt to extend its line from Woodlawn to the Seekonk River , enabling the company to exchange cargo with ships and directly compete with the New Haven. An amendment to the company's charter allowing the extension was approved by the Rhode Island General Assembly on April 7, 1904. The charter amendment required the Moshassuck to determine and acquire
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#1732877326056660-403: The first decade of the 20th century, but was abandoned in 1913 following opposition from the New Haven. Independent freight operations continued until 1982, when the company was purchased by the Providence and Worcester Railroad (which separated from New Haven successor Penn Central in 1973 and resumed operating its own lines) which has operated the line since. The northernmost three-quarters of
690-524: The following reasons: In France, the equivalent of shortlines railroads are the opérateurs ferroviaires de proximité (local railways operators). Because of their small size and generally low revenues, the great majority of shortline railroads in the U.S. are classified by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) as Class III . As defined by the Surface Transportation Board (STB),
720-487: The joint lines of the Providence and Worcester Railroad and the Boston and Providence Railroad , just north of Providence . The company ran a locomotive for the first time on December 6, 1876; it opened for business the following month. The completed shortline railroad was two miles (3.2 km) in length and followed the Moshassuck River for much of the route. The Moshassuck Valley Railroad began with one locomotive,
750-524: The need for employees to ride the cars down the hump to set their brakes manually. The New Haven was merged into Penn Central at the end of 1968, making Penn Central the yard's new owner and operator. Around this time, the hump was removed from the yard, returning it to a flat yard with trains assembled and disassembled by switcher locomotives. When, in 1973, the Providence and Worcester Railroad (P&W) became independent of Penn Central, some operations were transferred to Framingham, Massachusetts , as
780-404: The new facilities first operated on August 15 of the same year. Upon the opening of the retarders and other improvements for service, Providence newspaper The Evening Tribune described Northup Avenue Yard as "the finest in the New Haven system". The company subsequently reported in 1932 that the new retarders resulted in 35 percent less time being required to classify cars while also eliminating
810-480: The one on the Moshassuck in use in any part of this country, it is believed by the operators of this one." Passenger service continued until 1921, when it was ended following increased competition from streetcars . In 1960, the Saylesville mill shut down. Despite this, other local industries continued to rely on the railroad, and it continued operating. By 1969, the Moshassuck Valley Railroad employed five people. In
840-469: The size of the yard to 112,000 square feet (10,400 m ). A greatly enlarged Northup Avenue Yard was designed and built by the New Haven as a classification yard to sort freight trains in the Providence area. Construction was announced in 1918. The new yard's design, along with that of Cedar Hill Yard in New Haven, Connecticut , was created after a survey of recently built classification yards across
870-507: Was either because the company believed the Southern New England Railway (then under construction) would allow another connection to the river, or because the company was confident in its ability to maintain good relations with the New Haven Railroad. In 1982, the Providence and Worcester Railroad (P&W) purchased the Moshassuck Valley Railroad, ending its independence after 105 years of continuous operations. Long leased by
900-466: Was needed for future use as part of an expansion of Northup Avenue Yard . The New Haven stated it had no objections to the expansion in principle, and would be satisfied if the extension crossed over the area of the yard on a bridge, which would need to be 200 to 300 feet in length. The Moshassuck Valley Railroad abandoned its plans to build the extension in December 1913, with newspapers speculating that this
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